In this article, Andrea explores some of the most recent Linux job postings and determines that Linux is a very good niche to be in during these economically strange times.

Few people still live in a fantasy bubble where the problems with economy have eluded them. Each conference I attend, and each meeting I sit, there are
people talking about the latest cuts, a cousin who just got laid off, an unexpected bill that caused stress, etc.

So why is it that when I attend Linux meetings, or sit in a conference room surrounded by Linux administrators I feel a geeky air of optimism?

Instead of fishing around for qualitative answers, I dove right in and began to investigate just what the jobs market looks like for Linux
professionals.

What I found was surprising, even to someone expecting Linux to fair well in tough economic times.

CONCLUSIONS

1. Linux has expanded at a high rate over the past few years, with recent expansion even within Government organizations and the military.

2. Linux is recognized as a cost saving device among larger corporations that are trying to cut back on hardware costs.

3. Linux administrator positions continue to be approximately 25% of the total Linux related job market.

Those are the high level conclusions made from a cursory evaluation of 10 IT job websites in the US and Canada, UK, Australia and New Zealand.

Linux is certainly a recession proof technology as its use consistently expanded over the past three years. The positive news is that a number of the
job listings I saw were for "mid-level" Linux administrators, not just for highly experienced or software engineers.

Moreover, in speaking with some IT managers, Linux proved to be a catalyst for reducing some hardware related costs while also increasing
performance/administration efficiency.

Another frequently used IT job site in the United States, computerjobs.com lists 2,156 Linux related jobs, with numerous administrator specific
positions.

In the UK as well as Australia and New Zealand, there is a similar picture. The popular cwjobs.co.uk website currently lists over 600 Linux specific jobs.

Other UK related job websites also list several hundred Linux positions, including sites like ukjobsnet.com and jobsite.co.uk with
over 500 Linux related positions currently posted.

The big job website in Australia, seek.com.au, currently lists 916 Linux related positions, with
over 160 specifically for server administrators. The seek site in New Zealand also posts 90 Linux specific positions, which for a nation of 4.5 million
is actually a positive ratio. However, most of the roles in New Zealand are related to software development roles as opposed to server administrator
specific roles.

REALITY

After review, it appears that some of these postings are b.s. and overtly placed to cover someone's legal requirements rather than offer a legitimate
role to those with qualifications.

However, a significant number of the roles included key words such as: urgent, or immediate hire. Others have been on display or re-displayed several
times over the past few months indicating a primary need.

Unfortunately, Linux remains a niche in many countries, where especially government jobs (which I did not research for this article) remain elusively
engrained with Microsoft explicit products and servers.

The real positive is that while other related IT jobs have subsided over the past three years, including Microsoft Server roles, Linux administrator
roles have continued to be available at similar levels.

When assessing the type of IT skills beneficial for potential jobs, having Linux background or expertise absolutely opens more doors. In fact, many of
the "administrator" specific jobs listed required exclusive Linux expertise.

The next step is in ensuring that you can verify or validate that you have Linux experience, and that can come either from a current role with Linux
server administration or by getting a Linux certification.

VALIDATION

The Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) remains the leading and most recognized validation of Linux expertise. With numerous jobs explicitly requiring or
noting this certification.

However, more and more jobs also list:

LPI Certification levels 2 and 3

CompTIA Linux+

Red Hat Certified Virtualization Administrator (RHCVA)

Red Hat Certified Technician (RHCT)

The door can also be opened if you have used Linux in a business environment for 2 or more years, with many jobs indicating that level of experience.

This is especially good news to those who have been working with Linux for years, so long as they can verify their roles are Linux related.

In the difficult economy where competition for jobs in cities remains intense, it is nice to know that Linux experience still carries weight and
affords more opportunities.

This brief opinion piece should not be construed as factual information, and only contains the opinions and personal experiences of the author at the time of publication. Reallylinux.com could not find information in this article that at the time of publication was inaccurate. However, the opinions and personal experiences that have been posted do not express the opinions of Reallylinux.com and are not endorsed in any way. Linux is a registered trademark of Linus Torvalds. Microsoft and Microsoft Windows are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation both in the United States and Internationally. All other trademarks or registered trademarks in this opinion piece belong to their respective owners.

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